The City is currently reviewing the zoning of the Stanford Research Park
and the light industrial area just west of 101 between Oregon Expy and
San Antonio. The City invited representatives of various neighborhoods
adjacent to this areas to participate in a focus group on potential changes.
Attached are the notes taken by the City during this session.
My summary:
1. Some of the office building in the area just off 101 did not do well
even during the boom, and therefore the owners of those parcels may
be receptive to converting them to housing. This area is a prime
candidate for housing because of easy access to 101 (most Palo Alto
residents work outside the city) and reasonable access to other
services: parks, schools, retail (Edgewood Shopping Center).
At least one council member (Judy Kleinberg) has been strongly
advocating looking at this area as part of the way to meet the city's
targets for new housing, thereby reducing the amount targeted for
southern El Camino (see my messages in February and in the Spring
Newsletter on the Housing Element of the Comprehensive Plan).
2. Stanford Research Park is the "800-pound gorilla" on Palo Alto's
traffic grid, and ways are being considered to reduce that impact.
a. Generates significant traffic at lunch time from people going
to restaurants. This could be reduced by allowing restaurants
to locate in the SRP itself (companies can have their own cafeterias
but independent restaurants are currently not allowed).
This would also reduce the demand for restaurants on California
Ave and the nearby sections of El Camino, potential opening space
for other retail businesses.
b. Employee density has risen: When SRP was originally developed,
R&D activities typically involved substantial amounts of equipment
and lab space. Many of the current uses do not have such requirements
and thus the buildings accommodate many more people (often double).
- office workers (for example, lawyers)
- software developers
- researchers who work primarily on/through a computer.
c. Put some housing in the research park.
d. Requirements/incentives for better use of public transit.
Note: Because zoning changes have substantial impacts and are hard to
fine-tune, making such changes is a very long process, first to reach
a decision and then to allow property owners a reasonable time to
amortize their investment in the current use. However, some property
owners will shift to the new usage.
-- Doug Moran